After keeping things close in the first half of Friday night’s game against Cardinal Ritter (9-0), the St. Louis U. High football team tired in the second half en route to a 44-0 loss. It had been four years since SLUH had last been shut out in a regular season game. The team will look to regroup this week against Seckman (8-1) in the first round of the Class 6 District 1 Playoffs.

For much of the first half, the Jr. Bills trailed by only 6 points, but the offense couldn’t convert against a ferocious Cardinal Ritter defense. Both the passing and running game were limited, with season lows for both passing and rushing yards. Their one opportunity on the offensive end was after a blocked punt that got SLUH into Cardinal Ritter territory, but the Jr. Bills did not take advantage. The Lions then scored in the waning minutes of the first half and never looked back.

“We let things snowball,” said head coach Adam Cruz. “We couldn’t afford to play like that, especially with our schedule this year.”

The passing game struggled all night, putting up a season low 102 passing yards. Junior QB Marco Sansone struggled, posting a 44.07 passer rating that was well below his season average of 93.7. Sansone threw his lone interception of the evening in desperation while trying to find junior Ryan Wingo streaking downfield, but Wingo was in double coverage and the Lions got an easy interception. Sansone will look to rebound next week against Seckman. 

Cardinal Ritter appeared to know that the Jr. Bills had struggled stopping runs this season, giving up 253 rushing yards per game. Ole Miss commit Marvin Burks led the Lions backfield with 150 rushing yards, and the rest of the team combined for 100 more. They found success on outside runs, forcing the defensive backs to play a large role in tackling. SLUH got exposed in this area. Despite this, the secondary had moments where they looked sharp. SLUH only gave up 236 passing yards through the air and forced an interception. 

“We hung in there during the first half,” said Cruz. “But after a while our guys just got tired. Earlier in the year, our offense carried us, but in the last couple of games it’s really been our defense that has kept us in most games.” 

It wasn’t all bad news last Friday, there were moments worth taking and building on going into the playoffs. Junior Archie Carruthers extended his lead as sack leader on the D-line for the U-High. He brought down the quarterback twice for his fifth and sixth sacks on the season. 

“I just hold down the edge,” said Carruthers. “This week we got to keep their quarterback inside the pocket. Their whole team runs through him so we need to shut him down.”

Two freshmen defensemen, freshmen Keenan Harris and Jordan Taylor, intercepted passes from Cardinal Ritter. Despite not getting points off the turnovers,  it is good to see both Harris and Taylor start to fully integrate themselves into the team as a date with Seckman roles around. They have both been essential on the defensive side of the ball and will be key in SLUH’s battle against Seckman quarterback Cole Ruble.

Wingo also looked as good as ever in the limited touches he received. While the aerial attack may not have been perfect, he still found ways to make an impact on special teams. He netted 84 kickoff return yards, including one return where he nearly took it to the house. 

In SLUH’s three wins, Wingo has averaged 78.6 yards per game. He had 32 yards against Cardinal Ritter. For SLUH to be successful against Seckman, Wingo needs to get more involved. This week, a Seckman student-run Instagram page put out a post claiming Ryan Wingo as being the most “overrated player in the city”.

“I’m not going to say anything about it,” said Wingo. “I just let my game speak for itself.”

For the second week in a row, SLUH lost a senior to injury. Starting running back Kam Bailey suffered a concussion after being hit hard on a pass from Sansone. SLUH will miss Bailey’s leadership, energy, and consistency next week at the running back position. If Bailey’s year is over, he will have ended with 558 yards and five touchdowns. 

In his place, freshman Jordan Taylor will be stepping up into the role of lead back. First Louis Kertz, then Zach Ortwerth, and now Kam Bailey. SLUH seniors have been dropping like flies right as the playoffs are starting, meaning that the team will have to look for more young talent to take a step up. 

“Kam Bailey is an important member of this team. We are gonna miss him next week. We have to win to make sure his season isn’t over,” said senior Matthew Barnes.

There is no denying that SLUH has faced the hardest in-state schedule in possibly the whole state; they have faced the best team in Class 3 with St. Mary’s, Class 4 with Cardinal Ritter, and Class 6 with CBC. This schedule does mean that the Jr. Bills will come into the playoffs having been playing against the best competition, which will hopefully set them up for some type of success.

“We’ve played the gauntlet and we haven’t put it all together yet,” said Cruz. “The intentionality of this schedule is to ensure that we won’t be surprised in the playoffs, even when going against great teams.”

SLUH has their season on the line tomorrow against Seckman (8-1) in the opening round of district playoffs. Seckman lives and dies by one man: Cole Ruble. Saying Ruble has been dominant this season would be an understatement. The quarterback has been efficient through the air, but that isn’t where he shines most. He is the metro area’s rushing leader, with 1983 yards on the ground along with 36 touchdowns—more than 100 yards and 10 touchdowns more than the next best rusher. 

Ruble will have to rely on his legs even more against the Jr. Bills because his number one target, Anthony Westervelt, is out for the season with an injury. SLUH has a way to win this game. SLUH has a chance to survive. It all comes down to the one thing that has plagued them all season. Can they stop the run? We will see tomorrow night at 7.